Executive Decisions
by firesnap
Summary: Jack left them. Then the rest of the team had to pick up the pieces.


_Author's Note: This is the first story in a series of character pieces, mini-case fics and vignettes all set between Series 1 & Series 2. _

_Thanks to the wonderful Harkpad for the initial read through. _

The half-finished new boardroom was filled with an impressive silence. It wasn't impressive because of the amount of people who were silent. There were only four, when there should've been five, and it wasn't odd for any of them to be quiet now and then. It was impressive because all of them, the abandoned members of Torchwood, had plenty to say. They just didn't know where to start.

Jack had disappeared earlier that day - no, Gwen noted as she looked at her watch, Jack had disappeared yesterday - and they'd frantically tried all they could to track him down. Tosh had pulled up the CCTV footage of the Hub and around the Plass. The first video had shown Jack and Gwen chatting, waiting on the others, and then fast forwarded to Jack starting as if he'd heard a ghost. He ran, skipping over steps until he reached his office, grabbed a bag that had been stashed in a hidden compartment in the floor, and took off like a madman toward the surface. The outside surveillance had been damaged, some frequency disrupting the signal according to Tosh, but they could hear muffled shouts, a strange grinding noise, and the hiss and crackle that dissipating rift energy left behind. It was a bleary, confusing mess of evidence. Jack was gone, that they knew, but he'd left in such a panic that none of them could be sure on what had really happened to him.

The fighting had started then. Ianto had stormed off almost immediately, returning to Owen and Gwen arguing over whether to inform Archie at Torchwood 2 or the Queen or… someone. Someone should know Jack was gone, shouldn't they? They didn't stop arguing just because Ianto came back. Gwen wanted to look for Jack. Surely, he left because he was in danger, or Torchwood was, and it was their responsibility to find him. Owen thought Gwen was mental, (as he often did, Gwen suspected) and no one smiles if they're in danger - unless they're Jack - and that they should just leave it. They'd caused enough damage lately. Gwen jumped when Ianto slammed the folders down on a desk. He crossed his arms and stared at them both like a disapproving parent. While it wasn't a look that Ianto's age would really let him pull off, Gwen's tirade did fizzle down and, intrigued, she gave Ianto the chance to speak. Going off a hunch, he'd produced all of the archive's folders concerning the founding of Torchwood, the Doctor and his known acquaintances, and the Battle of Canary Wharf. Other than the last one, Gwen had no idea what any of that was.

It was a little disturbing to Gwen how quickly he'd managed to find all that. Unless, of course, he had some reason to be looking through them recently. Or, maybe it hadn't been him looking through the files. Maybe he pulled them because_ Jack _had looked at them last.

"I don't understand," Tosh had said as she examined a decaying copy of the Torchwood charter. She'd been the first to be intrigued by Ianto producing research, and had slowly moved toward the papers while Owen and Gwen had fought.

"Well, I don't either," Ianto admitted. "But, I think our answers are in here. It's the only lead we've got."

"Brilliant. Jack takes off and Ianto wants to start a research project," Owen added helpfully.

Despite Owen's initial complaints, they spent the next few hours in the board room. It was a new room - one that had been the brainchild of Owen and Ianto during Jack's prolonged death. It was a peace offering from Ianto, Gwen knew, because relocating the board room finally gave Owen the hot house space he'd wanted; and it had been a chance for them to work together after their incident with the Rift. The room still needed paint, and the light fixtures were only half set, but it was going to be a gorgeous. Once they'd finished it, and Ianto replaced the destroyed coffee maker, the Hub would be right back to normal. Even if it was missing Jack.

The four of them began going through the folders concerning the Doctor, reading documents and listening to interviews of people who had met the alien and his group of followers. Gwen didn't see how this was helping, nor did Owen, but Ianto kept going back to the archive form regarding Jack's creepy hand and the accounts of the Sycorax while insisting the connection was there. When Ianto left to fetch some more carryout coffee the others took it as an opportunity to watch the recovered footage from Torchwood Tower without having to make Ianto uncomfortable. They didn't watch any of the film of the actual carnage. Instead, they watched one of earlier in the day. It was of the Doctor arriving. The noise of the boxy blue supposed spacecraft made Tosh turn ashen and she immediately played back their own footage of the Plass at the time of Jack's disappearance. A feeling stirred in Gwen's chest and, for the first time in hours, she felt like things would be okay. They'd found their proof. Jack had found this alien in the Plass and had gone off after it.

Any hope Gwen had that Jack had taken off after a known threat were shattered, like many things in her life, by Owen Harper. He threw down a file concerning the Doctor's last appearance in Cardiff and pointed at the descriptions of his companions, just as Ianto eased quietly back into the room with fresh coffee. One of them was described as a handsome man, in his 30's, with an American accent. Gwen wanted to reply that it could've been someone else, but attached to the file was a grainy black and white security picture of a very young looking Jack Harkness talking to an even younger looking blonde girl. Then it became impossible to deny. Jack hadn't looked as if he'd been rushing off to battle. He had been smiling, joyous looking, he'd even packed a bloody bag to go after someone who was obviously a friend. He was gone. Willingly.

Their boss had buggered off with an alien, a back pack, and not even a goodbye.

Gwen had never felt so betrayed in all of her life. She waited for him. For days, she had begged and pleaded for him to come back to life, to smile at her or order her about. Then he did. His eyes had fluttered open and he'd given her a brilliant smile… and then he'd disappeared.

That was when the impressive silence had begun. They all twitched in their chairs, none of them wanting to be the first to speak, but all of them full to the bursting over what they wanted to say. All of their desires to argue, scream, vent and rage were gone, but the energy and stress of the situation filled the room like poison. Ianto worked at reassembling all of the files into some order. Tosh tried, for probably the tenth time, to clean up their video from the Plass. Owen looked at a spot behind Gwen's head, his face twisting with some new emotion every few minutes. Gwen recognized a few of them - guilt, disbelief and, above all anger. Jack had returned from battle to offer forgiveness and, just as quickly, jerked it away again by leaving.

Gwen rubbed her dry, tired eyes and tried to pull herself out of her daze. Everyone sitting in shock wouldn't sort this out. "Ianto, how did you know to pull those files?"

Ianto stopped with a paper in his hand and looked surprised that he'd been addressed. "When you were talking to Jack, he mentioned a doctor and then… that noise. It sounded familiar. And Jack. Something's always been funny about this. He hid most of these, which made me want to find them." The smile playing on Ianto's lips was equal part pride and bitterness, and Gwen irrationally wanted to reach out and squeeze his hand.

"You heard it at London?"

"No, but I've… been through some of the files. After I got here, I went through the ones on London."

As always, no one knew what to say when reminded of Ianto's history with Torchwood. It always made Gwen's stomach twist that they, his coworkers, never could offer anything other than awkward silences when reminded of where Ianto was from or what had happened to him.

The uncomfortable moment was broken by Owen clearing his throat. "Right, what's next? Jack's gone on holiday. Do we close up shop as well?"

"We can't," Gwen snapped. "Jack wasn't Torchwood."

"He was," Tosh mumbled. After a glare from Gwen she quickly added, "But, you're right, the Rift is still here."

"There's a chain of command," Ianto said. "But, I doubt we want UNIT involved." Tosh winced and nodded in agreement. "We can carry on internally. Typically, we should tell the head office of Jack's… abandonment of his post, but…" He shrugged.

"There really isn't a head office," Owen finished. "Right. So who's in charge? Rule boy, what's the book say?"

"Second in command, technically. But, you were removed from that position. Jack signed the paperwork himself."

Owen's glare at Ianto would have dropped the younger man to the floor if it had been possible. "So, seniority?"

"No," Tosh said quickly. "No, I don't want it. I mean, I can't. It's part of an agreement we have with UNIT -"

"Her cleverness makes them nervous," Ianto finished. "They made Jack promise to remove her from the chain of command when she started here."

Tosh and Ianto shared a quick, silent exchange and Tosh smiled gratefully before staring down at her hands on her laptop. Gwen didn't know what that was about, or why UNIT would get involved in Toshiko's status with Torchwood (and more importantly, why Jack _would let them_), and filed it away in her list of things to be curious about later.

"So that brings us back to Owen."

"No," Owen shook his head. "Not fucking happening. Not after… no. Jack obviously agreed if he bothered _signing something,_" though the last bit was a subtle accusation that Ianto had something to do with Jack finishing any sort of paperwork, Owen seemed serious about his refusal. Gwen hoped he wasn't turning it down out of spite, but she wouldn't put it past him. After the past few days, she wouldn't put anything past a single person sitting at this table.

"Someone has to be the bloody leader," Gwen finally snapped.

"Then you do it, PC Cooper. Unless Ianto here has delusions of grandeur beyond collecting pastries, I think you're it."

"Owen, I've been here less than a year. I don't know anything beyond what Jack told me -"

"No, Gwen, he's right. It's you. Tosh can't, and Owen would be shit at it." Owen winced and looked like he wanted to contradict Ianto's harsh assessment. A heartbeat passed without a word from him, and instead he moodily rubbed his injured shoulder. "We'll all be here to help," Ianto continued. "We just need someone to liaison with the few people we interact with outside the Hub. A face to the outside that says we're not a floundering mess. Tosh and Owen can handle themselves, and I'll keep making sure we get paid and funding."

This was moving too fast. Gwen took a deep breath and squeezed her hand into a fist, letting her nails cut into her flesh to keep her focused. "And what do we say happened to Jack?"

"It was an approved leave. He left you in charge, but he's gone on official business and we don't know when he'll return."

"If he ever does," Owen added, and then it was Ianto's turn to wince.

"I'll make some tea - it's a bit late for too much caffeine," Ianto said as he stood. "We'll have to sort out how this will work." As Ianto stood, he saw the bleak look on Gwen's face and sighed. He rubbed the back of his neck and tried his best to look supportive and reassuring. "Look, this isn't different from what you already do. You deal with the police, yeah? We just need you to sign your name and deal with… bigger police."

A few hours and two cups of Ianto's fairly dreadful tea later, the team had worked out an arrangement. They had a rota for overnight shifts until Tosh could come up with some sort of remote monitoring equipment. They'd sorted out what Jack actually did around the Hub (surprisingly smaller list than Gwen expected, but she imagined Jack being Jack took up most of his time), and worked out how fielding the missions would go. Gwen would lead investigations, and she and Owen would collaborate on any necessary field work while he trained her on the variety of strategies and procedures Jack never bothered using. All that was left was a small, singular staffing issue.

They were down a field agent. They were down Jack, which was really like being down two agents. Owen and Gwen both thought Ianto should go out. Ianto, and oddly Tosh, were the ones resisting the idea.

"Look, mate, it's not as if you can't shoot," Owen said pointedly. "Aiming for my shoulder or not, you hit me. It's better than most people do."

"No," Ianto shook his head. "I don't want to do it. I wasn't hired for that."

"Yeah? So you were hired to give Jack something to gawk? No Jack, so I don't think we don't need that anymore." Owen smirked when Ianto's face paled and Tosh flushed with anger.

"That's enough," Tosh hissed. "You have no right to tell him to go out there if he doesn't feel ready."

"Well, the way I see it, Tosh, with Jack gone, you're the only one who understands our tech. We could put you at risk, and be blind when something happens, or send Ianto out and have to get our own takeaway."

Gwen bit back a comment of her own. Owen was right, but he was going about it the wrong way. Jack had been working with Ianto, but after the Beacons, Jack had taken to hiding Ianto behind his coattails. It was like he thought Ianto would break from too much attention. Maybe he would; Gwen didn't know him well enough to say, but she wasn't in the position where she could coddle a twenty-three year man. "Ianto, we need you. It's like you said to me, you're not going to be alone out there. Jack's taught you to shoot, and he wouldn't have taken you weevil hunting if he thought you couldn't handle it. We'll start small. Owen and I will work with you. We promise."

Gwen looked over at Owen for some support and was surprised to see Owen nodding sincerely. "She's absolutely right; we're not going to throw you at a pack of weevils and say have at it."

"Okay. Just… yeah, fine," Ianto answered sullenly**,** and Gwen beamed. She looked around at her fractured team. Tosh was glancing between Owen and Ianto, looking alternately concerned and angry. Owen was ignoring her as he stood from the board room table and stretched his long arms above his head. Ianto, well, he was staring at his hands with an unreadable expression on his face. Probably still digesting the events of the day and his sudden promotion. He'd come out of it eventually. She hoped.

"Okay," Gwen began and all three sets of eyes snapped to look at her. "We've done all we can. Let's get some sleep and we'll meet back tomorrow." As everyone nodded in agreement, Gwen felt a bubble of pride rising in her chest. She could do this. They could do this. They _had _to do this. It wasn't as if they really had a choice in the matter.

Tosh and Owen shuffled off as quickly as they could, but Gwen lingered behind to watch Ianto gather up their trash. He didn't look at her and kept that same blank expression on his face that he'd had since they'd started their discussion of him and field work. Gwen bit her lip and began quietly helping gather tea cups.

"You alright?" she asked.

"Tired."

"Yeah," Gwen agreed. "It's… a lot. Thank you, for the vote of confidence back there. "

Ianto rolled his eyes and shoved an empty crisp packet into a bin liner with a bit more force than what was necessary. "Alright, look, you need to know that I supported you then because I had to do it. We had to make decision, but you also need to know that doesn't mean I'm going to just blindly follow you to death. You start making bad choices and I'll walk."

It was easy to be taken aback by Ianto's abrupt change of tone. Before he'd been polite, even deferential, and now his voiced was filled with barely controlled anger. Gwen held up a hand. "Where is this coming from? If you think I'll be shit, why did you say anything?"

"Because Owen was the other option, and I know no one will deal with him. He'll get UNIT on our arse and we'll never break free. Because… because Jack trusted you, even if I don't. "

"What?"

Ianto put a hand on his hip and sucked in his lower lip as he studied Gwen. "He told me, once, that you had potential to be something great here. I said I hadn't seen it -" Gwen flinched at his callous commentary of her performance, but Ianto continued on. "- yet. He told me to trust you, and you'd grow into it. So, here's your chance. Grow into it. Sending me into the field isn't an auspicious start, but it's not as if Jack didn't make fucked up decisions too."

Gwen wasn't hurt by Ianto's revelation. Not really. She wondered what had brought on his conversation with Jack, the details surrounding it, but it didn't matter, did it? She'd had a similar one with Jack about Ianto. They'd been working late on an investigation, and Ianto had popped in with a collection of biscuits and drinks for her and Jack. After he left, Jack had been smiling fondly and Gwen questioned why.

_"I like watching him work. He takes care of all the little things. He really keeps this place running, you know?" _

_"He's your PA. That's his job, isn't it?" Gwen was offended. Ianto got a smile and a wink for providing snack time. Meanwhile, she'd been going through police reports for hours with Jack just "looking for something odd." _

_Jack frowned and lowered the file he was reading. "No, I mean it. This is all he has now. Us. This Hub. This job. Always trust that he has Torchwood's best interests above his own. He doesn't even realize how much he does." Jack picked up one of the desserts Ianto had delivered. He shoved the entire thing in his mouth and Gwen could barely contain her look of disgust. "And he's got great taste in food," he added with a grin. It would have been much more endearing if he hadn't spit crumbs all over the table. _

Now, it made Gwen sick to think how Jack had probably planned both conversations. He'd known he'd be leaving them. It hadn't been sharing confidences; it had been Jack setting up a contingency plan.

"You'll be okay," Gwen said finally. Ianto stopped and looked up at her. As she took him in, really took in his pale skin and red rimmed eyes, she fully realized how exhausted he was. She knew his assessment of her couldn't be very different and, for a very lonely moment, Gwen felt like she and Ianto were two abandoned children without a clue on how to survive on their own. "We'll take care of you."

She hoped the words sounded more genuine to him than they did to her.

"I don't need anyone to take care of me, Gwen," Ianto scoffed as he tied the last bin liner in an efficient knot. "I need you to make sure I don't get someone killed."

"You won't."

"You don't know that," Ianto exclaimed. "You don't know anything about me or what I can and can't do."

"Ianto," Gwen said as she took a step forward. She faltered when Ianto moved farther away from her, intent on keeping his distance. That was her breaking point. "Maybe that's as much your fault as mine. I'm not Jack. I'm not going to have the time to pull you out of your shell. If you feel separate from the rest of us, that's on you now. I'm reaching out to you and you have to meet me halfway."

Ianto silently took in Gwen's words and then his shoulders slumped in defeat. "You'll help me?"

"If you help me. It's only fair really; we sort of forced each other to take new jobs."

"True. I imagine between the two of us we can manage being one Jack. Can't do worse than Owen," Ianto said with a barely controlled smirk playing on his lips.

"He'd have us shut down in a week," Gwen agreed.

When Ianto laughed at that, Gwen was surprised at how happy she was to hear it.


End file.
